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7 Fun Travel Goals Once You Have the Starwood Card

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Starwood pointsare some of my favorite points to collect because I can usually get incredible value when I redeem them. And they’re extremely versatile!

You can do so many things with Starwood points, from booking free flights to reserving free hotels to earning backstage passes at concerts.

You Can Use Starwood Points at Excellent Hotels, Like the Le Meridien Tahiti. But There Are Lots of Other Things You Can Do, Too!

1. Stay at a Fun Starwood Hotel

The most obvious choice for redeeming Starwood points is at a Starwood hotel! You can easily book award nights online. And you don’t pay taxes on award nights when you use your Starwood points (though some hotels may charge resort fees).

Starwood hotels have no blackout dates. So if there is a standard room available for sale, you can book it using points! Plus, you’ll get your 5th night free (in category 3 to 7 hotels) if you book 4 nights in a Starwood hotel using points.

The Westin Dublin Costs Between 12,000 and 16,000 Starwood Points per Night

Hotels are divided into 7 categories. However, some hotel categories cost more points on weekdays and some hotel categories (category 5 & above) charge a different number of points depending on whether you book in peak season or not.

Hotel Redemptions Start at 2,000 Starwood Points

2. Round-Trip Coach Flight to the Caribbean

For example, if you transferred 40,000 Starwood points to Delta, you would get a total of 50,000 Delta miles (40,000 Starwood points + 10,000 bonus miles for transferring 2 increments of 20,000 points)!

From September 7 to November 14, and April 27 to May 20, you can book American Airlines flights from the US to the Caribbean for 12,500 American Airlines miles one-way in coach. So you could book a round-trip coach flight to Barbados by transferring just 20,000 Starwood points to American Airlines (20,000 Starwood points + 5,000 mile bonus)!

Team Member Joseph Used American Airlines Miles to Fly to Barbados and Stay in a Huge Airbnb Tree House

3. One-Way Business Class Flight to Europe

You’ll usually get the best value for your Starwood points by transferring them to airlines for international Business or First Class.

For example, you can book a lie-flat Business Class seat from Chicago to Paris for 57,500 American Airlines miles one-way. Depending on which city you’re flying from, this ticket could EASILY cost $2,500 (and much more!).

And remember, when you transfer Starwood points in increments of 20,000, you’ll get a bonus 5,000 airline miles! So you’ll need to transfer ~48,000 Starwood points to book a Business Class seat with American Airlines (48,000 Starwood points + 10,000 bonus miles for transferring 2 increments of 20,000 points = 58,000 American Airlines miles).

Use Points to Do Something You’d Never Do Normally – Like Book Expensive Business Class Seats!

That’s a value of ~5.2 cents per Starwood point ($2,500 / 48,000 Starwood points). You’ll have trouble getting more value from your Starwood points than that!

6. Stay at a Fun Marriott or Ritz-Carlton Hotel

That means you can use your Starwood points for thousands of hotels around the world! Including extra fancy Ritz-Carlton hotels. For example, you can transfer Starwood points to Marriott and stay at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman!

Save Lots by Transferring Your Starwood Points to Marriott and Redeeming Them at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman

Rooms here can sell for $1,000+ per night. But you can reserve a free night for just 70,000 Marriott points, or 23,333 Starwood points (70,000 / 3). That means you can get a value of 4.2 cents per Starwood point ($1,000 / 23,333 Starwood points)!

Because Starwood points transfer to Amtrak at a 1:1 ratio, you’ll get a value of ~2.56 to ~2.9 cents per Starwood point if you use them this way. That’s not a bad deal at all.

Take the Empire Builder Route Through Big Sky Country and Glacier National Park!

To transfer Starwood points to Amtrak, you must call Starwood at 888-625-4988. Starwood says transfers can take up to 14 days.

Bottom Line

Starwood pointsare some of the most flexible points you can earn! That means you can do lots of fun stuff with them, like booking free train rides, tickets to an NBA game, or just reserving a free hotel night.

What’s your favorite way to use Starwood points? I’d love to hear more ideas!

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625 comments

I stayed for 5 nights at the gorgeous SPG Hotel Gallia Excelsior in Milan using points with the fifth night free. The hotel provides complimentary chauffeur driven rides to the Duomo in their three Maseratis. I highly recommend that ride!

I've used 10,000 Starwood points for a Charleston, SC vacation for three glorious nights in a city with hospitality, great views, terrific food and a great Aloft Starwood hotel. Thanks Million Mile Secrets for helping me earn free travel!

I used my Starwood points for the Westin in Washington DC. Not far from the subway and from there to all the sites. The room was large and the stay relaxing. So sad that you can only get the bonus once....maybe changes when Marriott combines programs.

Editorial Note: Neither the editorial content nor the comments on this site are provided by the companies whose products are featured. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or evaluations provided here are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the Advertiser.

Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card issuers from which MillionMileSecrets.com receives compensation. Compensation does not impact the placement of cards on Million Mile Secrets other than in banner advertising. MillionMileSecrets.com does not include all credit card offers that might be available to consumers in the marketplace.